10.22
Cambodia Casinos
There is a captivating history to the Cambodia casinos that sit just across the dividing line from neighboring Thailand, where casino betting is against the law. Eight gambling halls are anchored in a relatively small area in the municipality of Poipet in Cambodia. This group of Cambodia gambling halls is in a perfect location, a three to four hour drive from Bangkok and Macao, the two largest gaming locations in Asia. Cambodia casinos do a thriving business with Thai blue-collar workers and tourists from Malaysia, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, with only very few Westerners. The astonishing capital gained from the gambling halls ranges from $7.5 million to more than 12.5 million dollars, and there are a number of controls constraints for gambling hall ownership. Ownership is presumed to be mostly Thai; however, financing sources are ambiguous. The borders are officially open from 0900 to 1700, and although visas are supposedly needed to pass, there are ways around this, as is real of most borders.
The original Cambodia gambling halls opened in Phnom Penh in 1994, but were forced to close in 1998, leaving just 1 gambling den in the capital, the Naga Resort. The Naga, a stationary barge gambling den, features one hundred and fifty one armed bandits and 60 tables. The Naga casino is open all hours with forty two tables of mini-baccarat chemin de fer, 4 tables of vingt-et-un, ten of roulette, two of Caribbean Stud Poker, and one each of Pai-Gow and Tai-Sai.
The original gambling den in Poipet, the Holiday Palace, premiered in the late nineties and the Golden Crown quickly followed. A total of one hundred and fifty slot machines and 5 table games at the Golden Crown and 104 slots and 68 gaming tables at the Holiday Palace. The latest Holiday Palace Casino and Resort contains three hundred slot machines and 70 tables and the Princess Hotel and Casino, also in Poipet, has 166 slots and 96 gaming tables, including 87 baccarat banque (the most dominant game), Fan Tan, and Pai Gow. Additionally, there is the Casino Tropicana, with one hundred and thirty five one armed bandits and sixty six of the common table games, as well as a single table of Casino Stud Poker. An additional of the 8 casinos in Poipet, also a part of a motel, is the Princess Casino with 166 one armed bandits and 97 table games. The Star Vegas Casino is is located in an all-inclusive vacation and hotel complex that highlights many amenities in addition to the casino, which provides 10,000 sq.ft. of 130 slots and 88 gaming tables.